The present invention relates to a device intended for attachment to a toilet basin to permit rinsing of the colon with liquid (enema). The device comprises a tube which is carried by a holder and one end of which is intended for connection to a water tank located at a higher level than the toilet basin or to another water supply, and the other end of which is intended for connection, suitably via a check valve, to a rectum catheter (enema catheter), the holder being arranged to be fixed in a given position in the cavity of a toilet basin with the rectum catheter extending substantially vertically upwards with the use of spring attachment arms intended for co-action with the toilet basin.
In hospitals and like nursing establishments an enema or colon irrigation is normally given with the patient lying on a bed or some suitable horizontal surface. The patient is then moved to a toilet, where the water introduced into the bowel is allowed to run out therefrom. Because the patient has to be moved from the bed to the toilet, the procedure often becomes unsanitary and causes discomfort both to the patient and to the nursing personnel. The fact that water is introduced into the bowel with the patient in a recumbent position may also cause discomfort to the patient, due to too large a quantity of water being administered. It is also difficult for a person to administer an enema in this way by himself/herself, without assistance.
In the Swedish lay-open print No. 315 553 there is described a colon irrigator which can be used while seated on a toilet seat. To this end the device includes an auxiliary seat which is to be placed on the toilet basin and which has mounted thereon a supply tube for rinsing or treatment liquid, and a rectum catheter. This device has the advantage of rendering it unnecessary to move the patient. In addition, the bowel is filled with water with the patient in a sitting position, which affords certain advantages. This known device also enables the patient himself/herself to effect an enema without assistance.
The known device is encumbered with a number of disadvantages, among which are included the following. The additional loose seat which must be placed on the toilet basin is considered unsafe or unstable, especially by older and infirm people, since the auxiliary seat is prone to slide sideways. This renders it difficult for the patient to relax properly. In addition, the device as a whole, including seat and tube connection, is very bulky, which among other things prevents it from being taken readily as baggage when people who require regular irrigation of the colon travel. In order to sterilize the device in an autoclave it is necessary to dismantle the device from the toilet basin, which requires a number of working operations to be carried out and renders the task relatively complicated. Furthermore, the known device cannot be made universally compatible to all toilet designs.